In 1675, Sir William Bruce, an architect, bought the castle and used it as a focal point for his garden; it was never again used as a residence.

Part of the present fortification, the curtain wall, may date from this time period [3] and may have been built by the occupying English.

[4] Following Bruce's death, the English invaded again, and in 1335 laid siege to Lochleven Castle in support of the pretender Edward Balliol (d.

[5] According to the 14th-century chronicle of John of Fordun, the English attempted to flood the castle by building a dam across the outflow of the loch; the water level rose, but after a month the captain of the English force, Sir John de Stirling, left the area to attend the festival of Saint Margaret of Scotland, and the defenders, under Alan de Vipont, took advantage of his absence to come out of the castle under cover of night, and damage the dam, causing it to collapse and flood the English camp.

[4] In 1390, King Robert II (reigned 1371–1390) granted the castle to Sir Henry Douglas, the husband of his niece Marjory.

[2] Mary, Queen of Scots (reigned 1542–1567), stayed at Lochleven for a week in May 1562 to recover after she fell from her horse while riding out from Falkland Palace,[8][9] In April 1563, she had an interview there with the Calvinist preacher John Knox.

[15] She had been imprisoned there after the Battle of Carberry Hill on 15 June, when she surrendered to her noblemen, who opposed her marriage to the Earl of Bothwell.

For most of her captivity she lived in Glassin Tower (built in the early 16th century), at the south-east corner of the castle.

[18] Mary fell ill on her arrival, which was suspected to be the result of a deliberate poisoning, and sometime before 24 July she miscarried twins that she had conceived with Bothwell; they were hastily buried in the grounds.

[21] William Maitland of Lethington and Mary Fleming sent her a gold jewel depicting the lion and mouse of Aesop's fable.

[22] This was a token alluding to the possibility of escape, and his continuing support for her, the mouse could free the lion by nibbling away the knots of the net.

"[26] Mary asked her servant Servais de Condé to send her materials for textile projects and embroidery.

[29] On the night she finally successfully escaped, she dressed as a servant,[30] Willie Douglas stole the keys, and Marie Courcelles let her walk out of the castle.

[29][31] Three days after, her French cook Estienne Hauet and his wife Elles Boug packed her silk and velvet gowns and other items in a chest to send to Mary wherever she might be.

He had been to Falkland Palace taking possession of the property as part of the king's "morning gift" to his bride Anne of Denmark.

[39] In 1675, the Loch Leven estate was bought from the Douglases by Sir William Bruce (c.1630–1710), royal architect in Scotland.

Of the outer court, only an earth bank shows the position of the walls, with fragmentary remains of a bakehouse the only visible structures.

[44] A minor excavation in 1995 found the footings and two steps of a stone stairway that provided access to the Great Hall of the tower.